1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a waterproof connector in which the erroneous insertion of a connection terminal into a terminal receiving chamber in a connector housing is prevented, and in addition a waterproof performance is secured.
2. Related art
various waterproof connectors have heretofore been known. A waterproof connector, disclosed for example in Japanese Utility Model Unexamined Publication No. 4-81469 will now be described.
In the waterproof connector 51 shown in FIG. 6, female terminals 54, each having a box-like electrical contact portion 55, are inserted respectively in terminal receiving chambers 53 in a housing 52, and a mat seal 56, having a plurality of wire-sealing insertion holes 57, is provided at rear ends of the terminal receiving chambers 53.
As shown in FIG. 7, the female terminal 54 has a projected portion 58 formed on a surface of the box-like electrical contact portion 55 of a square cross-sectional shape defined by a front portion thereof, and this projected portion 58 serves to prevent the erroneous insertion of the female terminal 54. A press-clamping portion 59 for clamping a sheath and a conductor of a wire W is formed at a rear portion of the female terminal 54. A receiving space for receiving the projected portion 58 is provided in the terminal receiving chamber 53.
As shown in FIG. 8, the mat seal 56 includes a seal member 61 formed on a rear half portion of a skeleton member 60 of a hollow cylindrical shape. The seal member 61 has a cup-shape, and includes a tubular portion 62 covering an outer tubular portion of the skeleton member 60, and a corrugated surface 62a for being pressed against an inner surface of the housing 52 to form a seal therebetween is formed on an outer peripheral surface of the seal member 61. A circular bottom portion 63 of the seal member 61 covers a rear end portion of the skeleton member 60, and the plurality of wire-sealing insertion holes 57 are formed axially through the circular bottom portion 63. An inner peripheral surface of the insertion hole 57 is formed into a corrugated shape as at 57a (FIG. 6), and is pressed against the outer surface of the wire W to form a seal therebetween.
There are three procedures of assembling the waterproof connector 51 of the above construction. In the first procedure, the wires W, each clamped at its end to the female terminal 54, are first passed respectively through the insertion holes 57 from the front side of the mat seal 56. Then, after the female terminals 54 are inserted respectively into the terminal receiving chambers 53 in the housing 52, the mat seal 56 is attached to the housing 52 from the rear side of this housing. At this time, the erroneous insertion of each female terminal 54 will not occur since it has the projected portion 58.
In the second procedure, the wires W are first passed respectively through the insertion holes 57 from the rear side of the mat seal 56, and then each female terminal 54 is pressed to clamp the end portion of the wire W, and then the female terminals 54 are inserted respectively into the terminal receiving chambers 53 from the rear side of the housing 52, with the mat seal 56 attached to the housing 52. At this time, the erroneous insertion of each female terminal 54 will not occur since it has the projected portion 58.
In the third procedure, the mat seal 56 is first attached to the housing 52 from the rear side of this housing, and then the female terminals 54, each pressed to clamp the end portion of the wire W, are passed respectively through the insertion holes 57 from the rear side of the mat seal 56.
In the case of assembling the connector by the first procedure which is one of the above assembling procedures of assembling the conventional waterproof connector 51, the operation for passing the wires W through the mat seal is cumbersome if the wires W have a large length, which invites a problem that the efficiency of the operation is lowered.
In the case of assembling the connector by the second procedure, the wires W are first passed respectively through the insertion holes 57 in the mat seal 56, and then the female terminals 54 are pressed to clamp these wires, respectively, and therefore the operation can not be carried out efficiently, thus inviting a problem that the efficiency of the operation is low.
In the case of assembling the connector by the third procedure, the corrugated surface 57a is liable to be damaged during the passage of the projected portion 58 of the female terminal 54 through the insertion hole 57, which invites a problem that the sealing effect is lowered.
And besides, in all of the above three procedures, when the wire W is pulled in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the connector in the assembled condition of the waterproof connector 51, the corrugated surface 57a is elastically deformed in shape, which results in a problem that the sealing effect is lowered.